abducens nerve

abducens

abducens nerve the sixth cranial nerve; it arises from the pons and supplies the lateral rectus muscle of the eyeball, allowing for motion. Paralysis of the nerve causes diplopia (double vision). See anatomic Table of Nerves in the Appendices.

ab·du·cent nerve [CN VI]

[TA]

a small motor nerve supplying the lateral rectus muscle of the eye; its origin is in the facial colliculus of the tegmentum of the pons just below the surface of the rhomboid fossa. It emerges from the brain in the fissure between the medulla oblongata and the posterior border of the pons (medullopontine sulcus); it enters the dura of the clivus and passes through the cavernous sinus, entering the orbit through the superior orbital fissure.

abducens nerve

Etymology: L, abducere, to take away

either of the paired sixth cranial nerves. It arises in the pons near the fourth ventricle, leaves the brainstem between the medulla oblongata and pons, and passes through the cavernous sinus and the superior orbital fissure. It controls the lateral rectus muscle, turning the eye outward. Also called abducent, nervus abducens,sixth cranial nerve.

Abducens nerve

abducens nerve

the cranial nerve of vertebrates that supplies the external rectus muscle of the eye (see EYE MUSCLE); it is mainly MOTOR in function.

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